#16...In The Igloo (National TV!)..."I wouldn't be here today if the Old School didn't pave the Way"

First off, as a Wild fan you have to appreciate the stereotypical rhetoric that comes out of the announcers when it comes to describing the Wild, who clearly aren't darlings of the National Media. In fact, Monday's game against Washington will probably wrap up the extent of national exposure Minnesota will get, unless they make the playoffs (somehow...) "Defense First","Play as a Team", "Attention To Detail"...blah blah blah. Hey folks, this ain't the plucky 2003 underdog squad; we ain't as synchronized as what your printed out Wikipedia page concerning the Minnesota Wild tells you.
Then again, when you kill off 94-95% (it was 93.3 coming into the game) of your penalty kills, I guess a reputation can die hard...and I guess it adds to it when you hold the Mighty Pittsburgh Penguins to a single goal, a team who had won 6 straight, and feature so much talent that it is downright scary. So when Minnesota capitalizes on the flukiest goal ever (how is that for a stat padder- Mikko Koivu doesn't even touch the puck and he gets the goal. Props to Andrew Brunette, who went to the scorer's table and had them change the goal to Koivu, after he was initially given the tally) and bends-but-doesn't break, it brings Wild Nation back to a day when that's all the Wild could do to win. Score, and just hang on. It also helps when you got some guys who can do the shootout with some dangle.

Old School, indeed. What else can you do really?

Mike Russo was saying that James Sheppard's Dad and Sister were in attendance, and much to their pleasure, I thought Shep Diesel was pretty good; I am still amazed at just how strong the kid is down low along the boards. He was also very good defensively.
Speaking of being good defensively, so were the Penguins; I am venturing to guess that the five guys in front of Dany Sabourin (or Sabu to the folks at Pensblog, which I highly recommend a visit to) blocked more shots than he did. They also did a wonderful job of highlighting Minnesota's proficiency at perimeter passing, which is, in case you haven't caught it before, is a very generous way of saying that The Wild got absolutely nothing cooking in the slot, aside from a glorious opportunity from Eric Belanger; alas, he was robbed by the post, which also made a sprawling save on Owen Nolan (who thought a man his age could still dangle? He must be on Cialis or something) on the rebound.
Overall, it was an excellent defensive display from both teams and even inanimate objects.

Can we stop the Brent Burns-at-forward experiment already?

Pittsburgh Pre-Game Potpourri

-Well it seems Josh Harding has a boo-boo, so Tomas Mojzis was waived (a nice way of saying sent to Houston) so Nolan Schaefer could fly up to back up Nik Backstrom. Longest link title ever.
-Apparently Doug Risebrough was to scout the Ottawa-New York Rangers game, but never made it; however it didn't stop TSN's Bob Mackenzie from talking about it. Gaborik to Ottawa isn't something I've heard or read, but again, the guy has played just twice this year, so that has to be a desperate team to want a tarnished product NOW. Then again, maybe Risebrough should be patted on the back if he can manage to move Gaborik with a bum "lower body."
-I couldn't agree more with Ted Montgomery.
-And finally, not only do we get to see Pascal "Wide Right" Dupuis, but also Matt Cooke. So in the spirit of the thing, I thought I'd post this.



Never ever gets old.

Your Marian Gaborik Trade Rumor of the Night

According to the Wayne Gretzky of Rumor Mongerers:

"#6. Nik Antropov will be traded in the next two weeks to the Minnesota Wild as a piece of a deal that could bring Gaborik to Toronto.
This is all the buzz today among certain players close to each camp."




It never ceases to amaze me where this stuff comes up from; speaking of rumors, one floating around on the Wild.Com message boards is that Marian Ceramic's "Lower Body Injury via Hacky Sack" is actually a torn quadricep. Which, when put into the context of a pre-existing injury may not be that far fetched. However, I just don't believe that any team, even one as dysfunctional as the Toronto Maple Leafs, would want a piece of Gaborik, especially when there is no time table set for his return, and a looming contract issue.

#15...Columbus..."I got a Line on You"

I was at the game last night, and after reading Mike Russo's Gamer this morning I was left confused; granted it wasn't just up and down action all night, but I didn't feel it was as disjointed as described. In fact, at one point my brother, who was with me at the game, turned to me after a whistle and mentioned that we just went 6 minutes without an stoppages in play.
Was it flawless? Hell no.
There was some sloppiness, especially on Columbus' first goal by Kristian Huselius (half the players on the ice were behind the play,) and James Sheppard's epic-Martin Skoula-like boner of a giveaway to Rick Nash (the worst guy on the ice to give the puck away in front of the net.) To Sheppard's credit, he came out on the next shift and had a productive one, but damn Shep- that was a brutal, brutal turnover. Its not just this soft attempt at a pass in particular, but I've noticed that in general Sheppard just needs to put some more zing with his passing. Now, to his credit, the kid is blessed with some soft hands and excellent passing ability, but not every pass needs to be a feathered pass to a teammate.
Benoit Pouliot scored to make it 1-0, but then Erik Reitz scored his first NHL goal to give The Wild a 2-1 lead in the 3rd.


And after the aforementioned Sheppard-turnover-cum-Nash-Goal, we went to the shootout.
After Andrew Brunette promptly shot the puck directly into the crest of Steve Mason, Niklas Backstrom stuffed Kristian Huselius, It was Marek Zidlicky's turn. "After the first shootout (attempt), I saw he went down early, so I wanted to try shooting higher...That's what I saw, so ..."
Goal. Jackets' rookie Derek Brassard was stuffed by Niklas Backstrom, and it was Antti Miettinen's chance to end it..."I tried to put as little thought in my mind as I could; just go out there with a clear head...I decided before what I was doing. I don't know if it had anything to do with it, but I thought, 'Fake shoot it high, and then five-hole.' A couple times during the game when I tried to shoot high, he stood up, so I thought I'd go five-hole. It worked."

Yes it did; Minnesota got a line on Steve Mason.

#14...Phoenix..."We're Gonna Stomp, All Night, In the Neighborhood..."

Finally; it only took 14 games, but last night's game was a COMPLETE 60 minute effort. Yes, the four power play goals was impressive, but I kept expecting the usual let down, whether it was after 1-0, 2-0, and even 3-0, but it never happened. Don't get me wrong, its not that I'm disappointed that there was no disappointment, but I guess the shock value hasn't worn off yet.
Marek Zidlicky has come alive, with 5 points in the past three games; he had two goals, both on the power play, and an assist that Andrew Brunette by surprise. Both of his goals came on absolute blasts, almost like he was trying to rip it through the back of the net; the secret to his streak over the past three games? His Wife and 5 year old son are now living with him in Minnesota. After both goals, he blew kisses into the crowd in their direction. Here's to many more...
Now, aside from Zidlicky's big night, there is no doubt that the obvious crowd pleaser was this:

While Wayne Gretzky was furious about Clutterbuck fighting with his visor on, the bucket popped off early into the bout (you can see Clutterbuck unsnapping it.)
Minnesota has now won 9 straight against Phoenix, a team record; that being said, Phoenix is awfully similar to Chicago in the sense that they are a very young team, but are so loaded with talented youth. By my count they have their last 5 first round picks playing, along with Keith Yandle (4th round, 2005) and Kevin Porter (4th round, 2004.) This is a team where a little bit of experience will go a long way, and with a solid goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov, its not far fetched to see Phoenix in the playoff chase come March and April.
And who would have thunk it? Jacques Lemaire giving Benoit Pouliot praise for working in his own end; Lemaire even drew a Mikko Koivu comparison.
Scary stuff indeed.

Uh-Oh....

It has been a while since the 2009 NHL All-Star Game fan balloting has started, and after a quick look at the leaders, as of Thursday, November 13th (9:03 pm) it appears that the Montreal faithful has dutifully supported their team.


*dramatic piano*


However the The Pensblog has uncovered a dirty little secret: a javascript voting robot.

The Proof:


Now, should they be villified for their undying love of Les Habitants? No, but this serves as another shining example of just how ridiculous fan voting is. Let's face it, while this serves as the primary way to have fans be "interactive" (and I use that term loosely) with the All-Star game, it is a joke...which can lead to things like Rory Fitzpatrick Campaign. While there is no doubt that Mr. Fitzpatrick undoubtedly deserved to be an All-Star, the fan voting still remains flawed, and susceptible to corruption. (Feel free to Vote For Niclas Wallin by the way.)
Whatever happened to the actual ballots you got while you were actually at a game? Or did the whole "hanging chad" thing push that to the wayside?


In the end, should we really care? The All-Star Game, in all of its faded glory (and poor production values, thank you Versus,) is in Montreal; who can blame some francophone for wanting his precious Canadiens to be apart of All-Star Weekend?

Daaaaaaamn...